8 TV Show Endings That Get Worse The More You Think About Them
All that time invested for nothing.
Transcript
00:00 Investing time into a TV series is a major, major commitment, especially if you're going into a show that has several long seasons to its name,
00:08 which is why endings are so important.
00:10 I mean, who wants to watch 100 hours of action only to be let down at the last hurdle,
00:14 often by writers who've lost control of their story?
00:18 Well, nobody, but sometimes bad endings actually get worse the more you think about them,
00:24 as you slowly realise implications that passed you by in the moment.
00:28 So, with that in mind, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and these are 8 TV show endings that get worse the more you think about them.
00:35 Number 8 - Teen Wolf - The Wolves of War
00:37 Teen Wolf will probably never be mistaken for a great show, but it did make the most of its absurd supernatural drama to popular effect,
00:45 with each season forming an epic mystery complete with well-paced reveals, violent twists and effective red herrings.
00:52 It was a massive shame then when the final season, and specifically the final episode, failed to capitalise on that potential.
00:59 Titled The Wolves of War, the finale finds the McCall pack heavily outnumbered as they attempt to take down Gerard Argent and his supernatural hating army,
01:08 plus the rogue creature spreading fear through town.
01:11 From a premise standpoint, it couldn't be more quintessentially Teen Wolf,
01:15 but it ruins everything by trying too hard to do something different and epic, ending on an ambiguous note that implies the pack
01:22 are now caught in the midst of a worldwide war between the supernatural and everyone else.
01:27 It's a fairly unhappy ending at its core, made all the more frustrating by various character moments being wasted.
01:34 Worst of all, after six seasons of waiting for Stiles and Lydia to end up together,
01:38 we don't even get one glimpse of them as a couple once they do, which is a total, total waste.
01:44 13 Reasons Why spent its four season run as the most controversial show on TV,
01:52 and its finale did very little to fix the horrifying drama before it.
01:56 Graduation follows Claire and his embattled classmates as they finally leave high school,
02:01 which should have finally put the group's trauma to an uplifting end.
02:05 But unable to shed its controversial image, the finale instead leans into its implausible melodrama,
02:10 killing off fan-favourite Justin, just as he beat his addiction and found peace as the adopted brother of Claire.
02:17 His death causes everyone to leave school heartbroken, wasting years of build-up to a happily ever after.
02:23 Justin's literal character assassination is both left-field and horrible,
02:28 ruining four seasons of development in a last-ditch effort to break audiences' hearts.
02:32 Worse still, his cruel demise is coupled with Jessica forgiving murdered bully and rapist Bryce for his past deeds,
02:39 and even thanking him for allowing her to grow.
02:42 Killing Justin and having Bryce go from unforgivable villain to misunderstood victim
02:46 betrays the entire spirit of 13 Reasons Why's tale of hope, accountability and growth,
02:51 and hammers home just how terrible a show it really was.
02:54 6. St. Elsewhere - The Last One
02:57 St. Elsewhere did two major things no other show achieved.
03:00 It changed the face of television forever with its twisting serialised storylines,
03:04 and it ended with such a colossal WTF thud that everything beforehand was completely overshadowed.
03:10 With a strong ensemble cast including a young Denzel Washington,
03:14 St. Elsewhere took place in a struggling Boston hospital,
03:17 and thrived as a gritty, tragic and realistic medical drama.
03:21 Dark and thrilling, the show could have ended its run as an all-timer,
03:24 but at the very last second went one step too far, revealing - and brace yourself for this -
03:30 that the entire series took place inside a snow globe, dreamt up by a child.
03:35 It's a ridiculous twist that makes everything before incredibly problematic.
03:40 I mean, are we really supposed to accept that this child imagines so many harrowing incidents,
03:44 including episodes about addiction, AIDS, suicide and terrorism?
03:49 It's unsavoury to say the least, and makes everything that came before feel
03:53 incredibly icky on rewatchers.
03:55 5. Castle Crossfire
03:57 During its run, Castle was a surprisingly fun rom-com mixed with a bracing procedural drama,
04:02 always exciting despite its predictability.
04:05 In Castle, the basic theme was that good would triumph,
04:08 and that Castle and Beckett would eventually live happily ever after.
04:11 With the finale though, this wholesome, almost comforting edge was stripped away.
04:15 Torturing and seemingly killing Castle and Beckett in one last stand against overarching villain Loxet,
04:21 Crossfire ends with a jarring epilogue that finds the couple alive and well,
04:25 eating breakfast with their kids.
04:27 So the question is, is it heaven? Is it a dream shared by the two dying lovers?
04:31 Or is it a lazy, happy ending squeezed in by the writers, unsure that they'd get another season?
04:37 The sheer ambiguity is unlike anything the show had tried before,
04:40 and the more you think about it, the more you realise that nothing could possibly make it feel right.
04:45 If they're dead, it's far too unhappy, and if they survived,
04:48 it's just cheap, rushed emotional manipulation.
04:51 Put simply, Castle and Beckett deserved better.
04:53 Number 4 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Chosen
04:56 Unlike other finales on this list, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is actually fairly awesome.
05:00 Still, Chosen's flaws, easy to miss or overlooked as they may be,
05:04 do make it far from the flawless vision that it could have been.
05:08 For one thing, there's a massive villain problem.
05:10 The Turrican, previously portrayed as indestructible vampire killing machines,
05:14 become nothing more than mindless, easy to dispose of goons in the final fight,
05:18 wasting half a season of intense threats.
05:21 Also, the first evil, the last season's unseen big bad, can't die,
05:26 and so when reformed vampire Spike gives his life to destroy Sunnydale,
05:30 the first hasn't actually been defeated, because such a thing is impossible.
05:35 So is Buffy's victory really a victory, or is the first destined to come back and finish the job?
05:40 Also, the biggest moment of the finale, Spike's aforementioned inspirational sacrifice,
05:45 was kinda nullified by the fact that producers had already let it slip
05:49 that he'd be appearing in the next season of Angel, fully resurrected.
05:52 It makes for an awesome moment, sure, but it doesn't quite pack the punch it's aiming for,
05:56 considering it gets reversed almost instantly.
05:58 Number 3 - Friends, The Last One
06:01 In the world of sitcoms, Friends is at the pinnacle of popularity,
06:04 and its extended season 10 finale, The Last One,
06:07 is often regarded as a brilliant send-off for the gang,
06:10 all of whom are given the chance to move on to the next chapter of their lives.
06:13 But it's not as sweet as it may appear.
06:16 In the closing moments of the show, Rachel famously gets off that plane,
06:20 taking her to her new life in Paris, and instead races to be with Ross.
06:24 It's played as romantic and perfect, and it's easy to get swept up in the moment,
06:27 but it's also hard to shake the fact that she's just given up the life
06:30 that the rest of the season has been building up to,
06:33 to be with a man who's never really taken her career seriously.
06:37 It's honestly kinda disheartening that Rachel seemingly gives up the next chapter of her career
06:42 for Ross, and their reunion is kinda hard to buy,
06:45 especially when you really think about how poorly they always were as a couple
06:48 throughout 10 seasons of turbulent will-they-won't-they drama.
06:51 Now this might sound harsh, but watching the finale and its kinda manipulative twist
06:56 serves as a reminder of how badly written Friends' biggest romance really was.
07:01 I'm sorry, part of me does love Ross and Rachel, but, you know, re-watching it,
07:04 it's kinda- they're just not great for each other. I'm sorry.
07:07 Number 2 - Game of Thrones, The Iron Throne
07:10 Game of Thrones suffered through its final season,
07:12 losing sight of its tightly plotted execution, countless characters and numerous conflicts,
07:16 and it dropped the ball to an almost unforgivable degree with its closing hour.
07:21 There are truly too many mistakes to list off here, but the most egregious,
07:25 from Dany's assassination, Bran becoming king and Jon returning to the wall,
07:29 are all brought to life in the most unwanted ways imaginable.
07:32 Wasting years of development, The Iron Throne forces fans to accept Dany's madness,
07:37 with media scenes of build-up that feel completely off-base with the rest of the series,
07:41 and fail to take into account her relationship with Jon or her previous portrayal as a just and
07:46 liberating leader. On top of that, there's also the loose ends the episode leaves hanging,
07:51 the most confusing of which is surely Dany's dragon Drogon flying off into the night,
07:56 never to be seen or mentioned again. I mean, are we really supposed to accept the fact that Drogon
08:00 just escapes death without being hunted down or wreaking havoc across Westeros, or that Tyrion
08:06 can create a new government whilst a prisoner of war? So many of the twists were implemented
08:11 simply to subvert expectations, but subverting expectations also means ignoring so much of what
08:17 was set up previously and nullifies the enjoyment of watching that journey.
08:22 Number 1 - How I Met Your Mother Lasts Forever
08:25 Honestly, criticising How I Met Your Mother's controversial farewell is kinda like beating a
08:30 dead horse at this point, but still, come on. How in the world can one finale mess up
08:34 in so many different ways? In a series of increasingly shocking reveals, Lasts Forever
08:40 announces that the eponymous mother is dead, and that Ted is actually telling this long story
08:45 so he can get his kids' permission to ask Robin out again now that he's done grieving. The last
08:51 second twist almost single-handedly destroys 9 seasons worth of character development and
08:55 emotional investment, from fans eagerly awaiting for Ted and Tracy to settle down and live happily
09:01 ever after. It also kinda makes Ted look like a monster, manipulating his kids to grovel for his
09:06 ex yet again just to get their permission to run off. There are other issues here of course,
09:11 I mean spending a whole season waiting for Barney and Robin to get married just to have them divorce
09:15 at the last hurdle is a major time waster, but nothing will ever sting more than Ted treating
09:20 his true love like a footnote in her own story. For shame, Mosby, for shame.
09:26 So that's our list, let us know what you guys think down in the comments below,
09:28 what did you think about these TV finales and did they get worse for you as well the more you
09:33 lingered on their implications? While you're down there as well could you please give us a like,
09:36 share, subscribe and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single
09:40 day. Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you soon.